Accountability and Independence in Corporate Governance: An Analysis of Board Disclosures in Canada

Abstract

In Canada, companies are focusing on corporate governance as an ethical response to accounting scandals and the resulting crisis of confidence. Although, many aspects of corporate governance remain free from strict regulation, we examine the voluntary changes in the disclosures of the largest Canadian companies. We attempt to understand, through disclosure theory, discourse analysis, and structuration theory, the quality of these corporate governance disclosures. We recognize that much of the disclosure is opportunistic as companies state that they have not only complied with the non-compulsory Canadian guidelines, but have also met and exceeded the requirements of U.S. regulators. This is an important finding that supports the notion that Canadian companies do not need rules and regulations. Instead, a culture of governance is developing at the boards of large companies that encourages voluntary change. Whether this is enough to prevent future accounting scandals is a question for future research.

Citation

Green, D. and Graham, C. (2005), "Accountability and Independence in Corporate Governance: An Analysis of Board Disclosures in Canada", Lehman, C.R., Tinker, T., Merino, B. and Neimark, M. (Ed.) Corporate Governance: Does Any Size Fit? (Advances in Public Interest Accounting, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 167-193. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1041-7060(05)11008-6